


To Move On

by Obnoxious_Anxiety



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clem cannot catch a break, F/F, F/M, Guilt, Trauma, lots of trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2020-10-24 20:30:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20712089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obnoxious_Anxiety/pseuds/Obnoxious_Anxiety
Summary: After dealing with another heavy loss, Clementine, now a shell of the person she used to be, is struggling to find a reason to keep moving forward. After a car crash, she finds herself in a school full of children and with the impending horrors lingering on the horizon, can Clementine finally unite everyone and survive what is to come?





	1. New Beginnings

_Focus on the road."_

These were the words that kept echoing in Clementine's head as she drove, the sun shining bright and strong in the sky.

_"There is no point in thinking about that, it's been years."_

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, the girl focused back on the road for her to notice of what looked like a train station.

_"Maybe this place has something good to scavenge, for once." _ Clementine thought to herself.

Parking by the side of the road, she went to prepare. She didn ‘t have much, only the essentials. A crowbar, a revolver with no bullets and a water canteen.

”_This should do_.” 

She found herself lost in her thoughts again. Images from the past starting to rise to the surface.

_"Maybe because it happened around this time of year."_

  


_The moon watched Clementine as she rode through the thick forest. It had been a long journey, but all of it could finally be worth it. In the distance, she could see some lights, probably from the Ranch._

_Only a little farther._

  


Scanning her surroundings, Clementine made her way to a sign. The words;  **FRIENDLY? RING BELL (NO TRESPASSING) ** etched onto the wood.

"Well, that's one way to say that you'll shoot first." Clementine shrugged at this, and unsheathed her hunting knife, just in case.

She had seen this method before. Revealing your location to people nowadays is a death sentence. She slowly and warily made her way down the dirt path, without ringing the bell.

She wasn't surprised when she saw a walker waiting for her a few paces ahead, completely oblivious. She readied herself, and with a swift kick to the back of its knee, her knife easily found itself embedded into the undead's skull with a sickening crunch.

Pulling her knife free, she quickly sheathed it back and ventured further down towards the train station.

Glancing around her surroundings once more, she found herself looking idly at a tire swing hanging from a branch. A small, sad smile formed on her lips as she recalled more of that night.

_"You should have been here, with me."_

  


_She imagined them together again; all the things they would do. Would he remember her? It had been so long. The thought of having him back in her arms filled her with more excitement and determination than before, she couldn't wait any longer. As Clementine finally arrived at the McCaroll Ranch, she could immediately feel the pit in her stomach. The lights she saw before werent't lights. It was fire. The Ranch was_ _ burning. AJ._

_Throwing the reins, Clementine's horse started galloping towards the entrance of the Ranch as a bullet connected itself right into it's head. Clementine quickly found herself taking cover behind her steed's corpse, trying to locate the source of gunfire. Pulling out her own gun, Clementine finally spotted the man on the ground to be the one firing at her. She got out of cover and two shots rang out, but only hers hit her target, the bullet going through the man's throat, making him choke on his own blood._

_Clementine didn't have time to put him down for good, so she quickly made her way through the Ranch, only for something to grab onto her foot._

_"Kill me, please."_

  


Clementine could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she quickly wiped them away. " _Focus, right now isn't the time."_

After checking the windows and making her way to the front door, Clementine unsheathed her knife and tried the door knob, hoping that by some miracle that the door was unlocked.

"Of course." Clementine said to herself, slightly agitated.

Pulling out her crowbar, she jammed one end into the door and pulled against it, prying the door open.

As she entered, she looked around to see that the train station is as worn out on the outside as the inside, the wallpaper peeling off the walls and broken glass shards littering the floor.

A small gasp escaped her as she surveyed the scene infront of her. Two walkers tied up, keys on one of them, a bottle of some sort on the floor and a note.

  


_"Please leave us alone."_

_"This is what we wanted."_

_Poison._

Clementine felt sick to her stomach.

Not wasting more of her time, she looked around the room to find a heavy duty door.

"Security door, can't pry that open." she muttered.

Looking around to see if there are other ways to enter the room, she found herself looking at a ticket booth with a small opening.

_"You were supposed to be here, with me."_

  


_"Where are the children?"_

_"Oh my god it hurts, please it hurts so bad."_

_Another shot rang out, and the man finally stopped pleading._

_Clementine kept moving forward, she couldn't afford to slow down now, after all this time._

_"Another one? Eat some of this shit!"_

_Clementine barely managed to duck behind cover, waiting for the assault of bullets to be over. Eventually the man had to reload, giving her the time she needed to shoot him in the arm, effectively disarming him. Wasting no time, she quickly sprinted towards him and put a gun to his head._

_"I am not messing around. _ _Tell me where the kids are!_

_"Jesus, okay, okay. There's a nursery that way." The man pointed towards a hallway, covered in rubble and bodies._

_Noticing Clementine's preoccupation, the man saw an oppurtinity._

_"But I am not letting one of you savages take a fucking kid!"_

_Unsheathing his knife, the man made a desperate lunge at her, Clementine herself narrowly managing to retaliate by shooting him in the face._

_Making sure she had enough bullets, Clementine made her way to the nursery._

  


Clementine tried her best to calm herself down, breathing in deep and slow.

_"Focus."_

Putting her attention back onto getting into the other room, she looked around the room to see any other ways to enter the room, before the sad realisation hit her.

She's going to have to kill the couple for their key.

"I'm sorry."

Unsheathing her knife, she quickly dispatched the couple, and made her way to the door with the keys.

Unlocking the door with no difficulty, the girl started l ooking around the room. Clementine found cans of food and a few bullets for her revolver and a bed. "These people must have had it good." She thought to herself.

Checking out the cans of food, she saw that most of them were expired and spoiled.

Tossing the can of food in her hand, Clementine cursed to herself.

  


"I don't know how much longer I can keep on surviving like this, Lee."

  


Lowering her head in defeat,  Clementine watched how the can of food slowly rolled to the bed, revealing a trapdoor. The girl made haste and opened the trapdoor, revealing  a hidden stash of  unspoilt food.

"Holy shit, this could last me weeks with this much food."  A smile finally starting to tug at her lips.  _Maybe this could work._

Before she could celebrate her luck any further, a live grenade rolled past infront of her.

"Fuck, it's rigged!"

Slamming the trapdoor shut, she jumped out of the room as fast as possible.

The blast was almost deafening, knocking out all the windows in the room.

Realizing that the explosion of the grenade would attract every walker in five mile radius, Clementine looked out the window and looked on in horror as hordes of walkers were starting to descend upon the train station. Clementine scurried as fast as possible out of the train station and ran towards the car, killing a few walkers along the way.

Getting into the car, Clementine tried her best to drive away, even as she was cutting through walkers, more just kept coming. Clementine finally managed to back the car up a bit, and then she floored it, to try and  put as much distance between herself and the walkers.  Before Clementine could react, a walker broke through the window and clasped her arm, tugging at it, making Clementine lose control of the car, sending her down a hill and crashing into a rock

  


Clementine's world soon turned dark and fuzzy, the sound of walkers falling to the ground and muffled voices were the last things she heard before her world went fully dark.

  


_"I am so sorry."_

  


_She slowly made her way down the fire-lit corridor until she reached a dimly lit room, gun in hand._

  


_"Don't worry, we can leave now, I got- Who are you?"_

_The woman and Clementine both trained their gun on one another._

_"I don't want to shoot you, I just want the kid."_

_The woman looked on with a horrified expression, she pulled AJ closer to her._

_"No." The woman said, her voice breaking._

_"This is your last warning, leave him with me, I can keep him safe, like I used to."_

_"David told me about you, you're anything but trustworthy! I'd rather die with him than let him stay with someone like you!"_

_The woman pointed her gun at AJ‘s head, tears welling up in her eyes._

_"This is for the best."_

_"NO! WAIT!"_

_"Clem?" AJ whispered out._

_The woman pulled the trigger._

  



	2. Light within the Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be quite the long chapter, so I am really sorry in advance!

"NO, AJ!"

Clementine awoke with a jump, only to flinch at the sharp pain her sudden movements brought her.

Moving her right hand to her head, she felt a wet rag wrapped around it. _Car crash._

Groaning, the girl noticed her left hand being taped to the side of the bed.

Moving her available hand and freeing herself with minimal difficulty, she sat on the bed and took a look around her surroundings.

The room was anything but beautiful. The walls were adorned with holes and cracks, revealing the deteriorating wood behind them, the not-so-white paint slowly peeling off the walls. The windows were cracked and broken, only being held together by the wooden planks hastily nailed to the sides. The only decorations of the room being a few tables and a chair with books all over the floor.

"What is this place?" Clementine said to herself as she started to get up.

She went around to further inspect the room, coming across some medicine on the bedside table.

"Where the hell am I?" She was starting to feel uneasy.

People don't just give medicine out for free for every struggling survivor, not having any yourself could easily mean death if you got sick. These people might be kind, or might have some other plans in mind for her and she definitely wasn't going to stick around to find out.

"I need to get out of here."

Clem noticed the door on the opposite side of the bed and hastily made her way towards it, hoping by some miracle that these people were dumb enough to leave the door unlocked.

When she was only met with the noises of the door squeaking, she sighed and made her way to find something useful to help her escape.

She went around and opened a few drawers and a closet, only coming across a scrapbook with pictures of children on it within the drawers.

As Clementine opened the closet door, a colourful box, decorated with stickers, caught her attention right away and she tried to grab for it, but to no avail.

"Too short, of course." she sulked.

Grabbing the chair, the girl put it in place and barely managed to grab the box.

Setting it down on the table, she opened it and found some colouring pencils and a palette knife.

"This will do."

Jamming the palette knife into the keyhole, she started to twist and turned the knife until she heard the satisfying sound of the door squeaking and unlocking.

Opening the door slowly, she took a peak outside before she opened the door fully and made her way outside.

The halls of this place seemed to be worse than the room she was in. Everything was practically the same, only with more debris on the floor and profanities written everywhere.

_Real mature._

Peaking around another corner, Clem noticed a silhouette and quickly backtracked and hid behind a trophy cabinet, gripping her palette knife tight.

The silhouette, turning out to be a boy, came around the corner and let out an audible gasp as he realised that the room Clementine was locked in was wide open. Taking out his knife, he made his way to the door for inspection.

The boy looked young, Clementine noticed. His curly hair and small stature reminded her of her own boy. _Maybe this is how tall he could've been._

"AJ?" Clementine spoke out, voice breaking.

Clementine wanted to smack herself for her own stupidity, giving herself away at such a crucial time.

The boy was taken by surprise as he heard Clementine calling out, he quickly turned and pointed his knife at her.

"S-stay back! Don't come any closer!" The boy yelled out, trying to act threatening.

"Relax, I am not going to-"

Clementine was stopped mid-sentence as she heard the pull of a bowstring. Through the shadows, she could see the arrowhead pointed directly at her.

Though she couldn't see his face, Clementine could make out that he was close to her own age, if not a bit older.

"You heard the kid, don't come any closer." 

"Drop the knife, we don't want to hurt you." 

Weighing her options, Clementine thought of grabbing the boy that was frozen in place, but she didn't think she could do that even if she tried.

"How about an expression of good faith? You lower your weapon and I lower mine at the same time."

Both teens stared eachother down, but slowly lowered their weapons in unison.

"Who the hell are you people and what do you want from me?" She started.

The boy with the bow walked out of the shadows, with the younger following close behind.

"Calm down, we don't want anything from you. I'm Marlon. That's Tennessee, but uh, call him Tenn for short." Marlon gestured to the boy. "He's the one who has been taking care of you."

Clementine looked at the boy with a blank expression, unsure of what to make of the situation. Before she could muster out a response, Marlon started to speak again.

"Sorry about locking the door and uh, tying you to the bed and all. You were in pretty rough shape when we found you, uh?."

"Clementine." 

"Well, it's nice to meet you Clementine. How about we talk somewhere else and not in this cramped up hallway?" Marlon motioned for her to follow him.

Clementine's eyes squinted against the brightness of the sunlight as she tried to look around the courtyard. She could see kids scattered around in the distance.

_They have big, strong walls._

"So, you've been surviving out there for a while?" Marlon asked, seemingly curious.

"Yeah, I've been on the road for quite a while now." Clementine couldn't help but to think of everyone less fortunate than her, or more fortunate in some cases.

"Take it you know how to handle yourself?"

"Whatever it takes." Clementine answered with a stern look on her face.

This seemed to satisfy his curiousity for now, as he walked further down the path.

Following his lead, Clem looked around to see a few kids carrying supplies and watched as Tenn ran straight past her and to a girl sat on top of the walls. Tenn gestured towards Clementine and said something that she couldn't hear, but noticing the glare coming from the blonde girl it couldn't have been anything good.

"It's good we found you when we did." Clementine was shaken out of her thoughts.

"It wasn't easy getting you out of that car wreck, walkers were on the way and if we hadn't seen the smoke? I don't even want to imagine what could have-"

"The car." Clementine stopped him mid sentence. "Was it totaled?"

"Yeah." Marlon lowered his head, probably pitying the girl.

"Had to work fast, with all the walkers on the way."

Marlon kept talking but Clementine's attention was focused on the young boy staring at her like he hadn't seen another person in years.

His teeth were crooked and his hair was a mess, but he kept coming closer as to if to get a better look at the girl.

"Yeah, thanks." She was starting to get annoyed.

"You got a problem?" The girl said, startling the younger boy. _What the fuck?_

The question seemed to shake him out of his trance, as he ran towards what seemed to be a gate or a make-shift tower.

"What's his issue? Clementine questioned.

"You're just new. We haven't seen anything like you in... ever."

"What is this place?" It was her turn to ask the questions.

"Well, as you can probably tell, it used to be a school, but now it's whatever we want it to be." He exclaimed with a proud, toothy smile.

"And who's in charge?" 

"Well, I am. I know it sounds weird, kids run by a kid, but we do alright for ourselves."

"We have good walls, good defenses and pretty good location too. No one really comes out here anymore."

"Seriously, no adults? None at all?" Clementine was unconvinced. Kids surviving for 8 years all on their own in the middle of the woods seemed too hard to believe.

"Seriously, no adults at all." He tried to assure her.

"It hasn't been perfect, there used to a be a lot of us, but you know how it goes." His voice seemed to quiver just for that short second, before returning back to its normal volume.

"Allow me to make it formal; Welcome to Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth." 

"And it seems like you fit that description quite well."

"Are you always this nosy? Or is it just with me?" Clementine shot back.

"Well, I might be grasping at straws, but can you blame me?"

Before Clementine could answer, the strange kid from before started shouting.

"Yo, Marlon! We got walkers on the fence!"

"Shit, I gotta take care of this." He seemed visibly frustrated

"Knowing Willy it's just two grandma walkers and an angry squirrel, you've got bigger fish."

"Oh, by the way, your stuff is with Louis." He said as he strung an arrow.

"Louis?"

"Oh, right. Just follow the music, you'll find him!"

With that, the blonde leader ran towards the gate, leaving Clem to wander about in the admin building.

Entering the admin building, Clementine immediately heard the sound of distant piano notes filling the lobby, it looked oddly serene, with the sunlight filling the room and with the music. As she looked around. A few diplomas caught her eye as she read outloud.

"Master of Fine Ass."

"Master of Big Ass."

"Juris Doctorate... of Ass."

_Goodbye serenity._

She took a right and entered a hallway, hearing the music grow louder with each step, she knew she was going the right way.

Entering the big open room, she stood in the doorway, almost entranced by the music.

"You're not dead, that's good" A boy in a trenchcoat with dreads turned to her.

"The name's Louis" He said in a bit of a flirtatious tone, as he went back to playing his piano.

"Clementine." She said a bit unimpressed.

"Oh yeah, totally forgot, Marlon left your bag somewhere in here."

Clementine examined the room until she spotted her dirty brown backpack.

"I got it."

Clementine opened the bag on the floor, pulling out her hunting knife and sheathed it. She already felt more comfortable armed.

A small smile formed at her lips as she pulled out her old hat and put it back on her head.

Louis' steady tunes fell out of balance as he noticed Clem pull out her revolver.

"Um."

Checking for bullets, she put it back in her pocket.

"Double um. Do you actually know how to use that thing?" 

"Up for a little target practice?" The girl said as she got up. "That might show you just how much of a good shot I really am." Maybe a bit of threatening could make him not too annoying.

"I think I'll pass." He said as he went back to playing.

"Don't you know any others?" Clementine lightly teased.

"Well, there is one, but you're armed." He said, a small grin forming.

Taking her arched eyebrow as a go-ahead, he turned to his keys once more.

_**"Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling. Oh, my darling, Clementine."**_ He sang as he whipped his head backwards for comedic effect.

_ **"You are lost and gone forever! Dreadful sorry, Clementine..."** _

Clem was too speechless to say something, so Louis kept on playing, his smug grin plastered on his face. She wondered if shooting him now would be a bad idea.

_ **"Light she was and like a fairy. And her shoes were number nine. Herring boxes without topses. Sandals were for Clementine."** _

"I...Wow."

"That good, huh?"

"Fuck no." She said, deadpan.

"You wanna give it a try?" He moved over, ignoring her insult and giving her room on the bench.

"No way." She said, as she turned away from the disappointed boy only to see Marlon run into the room.

"Hey! Have you seen Rosie?"

Louis turned to face him. "Nope."

"Shit. We've got a bit of a situation out there." Marlon looked at Clementine.

"Um, I hate to ask, you coming to and all, but we could really use a hand. You up for taking out a few deadheads?"

Clementine thought about it, these people did help her, after all. It might be the least she can do for them.

"Yeah, sure."

Relieved, he turned to Louis. 

"You too, Louis. Get your ass in gear."

The sun was slowly starting to descend into the horzion as Clementine made her way to the main gate with Louis. Clem could see the blonde girl Tenn was talking to before looking outside the gates.

"You give her her weapon back?" Marlon questioned.

Pulling out her knife, Marlon started to explain.

"We've got a hunting party out there trying to get back inside. Need our help to clear the way."

"Seems to be a few more walkers than usual these couple of days." He finished.

"It's almost like something drew their attention. Something like, I don't know, an explosion or a car crash." The blonde girl chimed in.

"Vi." 

"What? I'm just saying. There's got to be some explanation."

"You got a problem?" Clementine asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"No, I'm just speculating." The girl said with an expressionless face.

Noticing the tension building, Louis interjected.

"Hey, Clementine. I'm Violet, nice to meet you." He imitated.

"What he said." Pulling out her cleaver, she opened the door and ran out.

"Stay sharp." Marlon said, following her lead.

"Don't mind Violet. She, uh, grows on you. I promise." Louis stated, pulling out what seemed to be a makeshift bat with nails over his shoulder.

Noticing Clementine's questioning look, he explained.

"Oh this? It's a chairleg, I call it 'Chairles'." He said as turned to the gate.

Clem only rolled her eyes and followed suit.

As soon as she walked out the gate, she could see some walkers coming her way. The familiar stench of death and decay filled the air as the groans of the undead echoed off the trees and walls.

Taking a deep breath, she readied herself and unsheathed her knife, throwing it in the direction of one of the walkers. The knife hit its target right in the eye, releasing an audible squelch as the knife punctured it's decaying and soft skull, making it drop to its knees. 

Clementine ran towards the walker and pulled out the knife, only to jam it into the underside of another walkers jaw.

"Woah, nice one, Clementine!" Louis called out from her right.

"Could use a little bit more finesse, though. Watch and learn."

Pulling out his own knife, Louis started yelling to get a walkers attention.

"Hey! Over here! Follow me!"

As soon as the walker got close to Louis, he cut a rope which dropped a massive boulder on top of the walker.

_I can't imagine how much time that would take to set up._

"There's a load of traps just for these asshats! Don't be shy, use them!" He exlclaimed as he went back to caving in another walkers skull.

Going back to dropping her undead adversaries, Marlon signaled for them to group up.

"Looks like they made it back in one piece." He said as he released another arrow into a walker. "C'mon, we're gonna meet them halfway!"

Taking out a few more of the walkers, she regrouped with the rest of the kids as the hunting party finally arrived.

"Nice timing. We're not gonna be able to hold them off much longer."

"No kidding, where'd all these walkers come from?" A red-haired girl Clem hasn't seen before added.

"We can talk when we're inside the gates, watch out for stragglers." The group of kids started to make their way back towards the school.

"You know, you're not half bad, considering the circumstances and all." The cleaver-wielding girl spoke, as she went to Clementine's side.

Ignoring the girls comment, Clementine ran forward to take out another walker.

"Alright y'all! Fun's over. Let's get inside - I'm fucking starving." Marlon said as he lead them all back into the school.

Clementine wandered around in the yard, waiting for their supper to be finished. She was thinking of all the things that happened today. The car crash, the school, but mostly she found herself thinking about the boy that took care of her, Tenn. 

Something about the young boy called out to her, the need to protect him, but she didn't know why.

_What's happening?_

_Is it because I couldn't protect him like I should have?_

Clementine was starting to feel sick, the need to throw-up slowly starting to overwhelm her. 

Taking a left, she leaned on a wall and breathed in deeply. She had to calm down.

"You okay over there or do you need me to get Ruby?" Violet called out to her.

Clementine looked up at her with a confused stare.

"I'm fine." She said in a dismissive manner.

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"Burying our dead." The blonde said, in a sorrowful tone.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry." Clementine got back on her feet. _Great going._

"Yeah, don't worry. It's not like there's someone buried here anyways."

"Then who are these graves for?" She looked at the wooden gravemarkers, decorated with flowers.

"Tenn's sisters, Sophie and Minerva. He's just gathering some flowers, should be here soon." 

Clem felt invigorated, somehow. Being able to share the pain of losing someone like a brother is a feeling she knew too well.

"You lost a sibling, too?" 

Clementine didn't know she was thinking out loud, now wondering how to get out of this situation.

"I got the flowers, V-" Tenn let out a gasp, and started to walk backwards.

"Knock it off, Tenn. Heard you guys didn't exactly have the best of introductions."

"I-I really am sorry, Tenn. I didn't mean to frighten you." Clementine tried to explain.

"I am sorry, too."

"Stew's done everyone! Come and get it!" Louis called out.

Omar's stew was one of the best meals Clementine has had in a while, she realised. It was certainly an upgrade to the food she usually ate out of a can.

Setting her bowl aside, Clem was about to get up before she heard Louis call out to everyone on the table.

"Now it's time," the boy said, pulling out a stack of cards. "for the real fun to begin."

"Oh, god. Goodnight." Brody said as she walked past them, heading to the dorms.

"Sleep well, y'all." Ruby said, following Brody.

"I think I should sit this one out-" Clem tried to say. She really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.

"Oh come on, a few games won't be the end of the world." Violet chimed in, sitting herself next to Marlon.

"Didn't know you were such an optimist."

"Shut up, Lou."

"Fine. Just a few games." _Let's just get this over with._

"What's the game tonight, Lou?" 

"War. The oldest game around. A game played by man and beast alike. The only game there is."

"It's pretty easy." Violet moved the bowls to the side of the table. "Everyone gets a stack of cards, everyone flips one over. Highest card wins."

"And the winner gets to ask Clem a question! Louis corresponded.

"I didn't agree to that."

"I wanna get to know you! We all do!" Everyone on the table seemed nod in agreement with him.

"And what if I win?"

"You get to ask us a question in return, it's only fair."

"What about Tenn? Won't he get lonely?" She looked over to the other table, looking at the boy.

"Don't worry about him." Louis exclaimed as he gave out a stack of cards to everyone at the table.

"He's busy drawing, can't take away his focus."

_Drawing. AJ loved to draw aswell._

"Earth to Clem? You wanna flip your card over?"

"Sorry."

Scanning the cards, it was clear that Violet won the first round with her Jack of Hearts.

"Way to go me." She cleared her throat.

"How long have you been on the road?" She said in a compassionate manner.

"Since the beginning. There wasn't ever a place I could call home. Had to keep moving forward." _I'm doing this for them. For everyone who got me here._

Flipping their cards once more, Clementine took the second victory.

"Out of the three of you, who do you think is the best fighter?" _Just in case._

Violet leaned back, grin forming as she held up her hand in triumph.

"That would be me."

"What? No way." Marlon scoffed.

"It's obviously me. I don't think your cleaver would fare too well against my bow." 

"Everyone can shoot an arrow, but no one can beat your ass like I can."

"Ahem." Louis coughed out. "I think you refer to me as being the strongest."

"Wanna arm wrestle, Louis?" Violet questioned.

"On second thought, I think I also agree on Violet being the strongest here."

With that question answered, Louis came in and swooped the third victory.

"That's right, it's me!"

"Just ask your question already." Violet said in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"So, uh." The boy started to play with his dreads. "Ever have a boyfriend?"

"Oh, my God." Violet slammed her fist on the table.

"What? It's a perfectly valid question!"

"Never." She replied.

"Not even once?"

"Never." she asserted.

With the next round of cards flipped, Marlon won the fourth round.

"Ha. I win."

"So, Clem." He leaned in.

"Couldn't have been on your own since the beginning. Who used to take care of you?"

Clementine's breathing started to get shaky. The memories of Lee flooding her mind. She couldn't believe that even after all these years, she still couldn't forget the time she had to kill her protector.

"The... the first person who taught me about survival was Lee." She said a in a quavering voice.

"What'd he teach you?"

"What does it matter? He's gone now."

Taking the hint, Marlon didn't press the question any further.

With that, they flipped their cards once more, with Louis winning once more.

"I am the greatest card player of all time."

"Just spit it out will you?"

"So, Tenn said something about you calling him AJ-"

Louis was stopped mid-sentence as Clem got up from the table.

"I'm going to go to bed." She said, deadpan.

"Clem-"

Before Louis could say anything else, Clementine made her way to the dorms. She wasn't expecting to get asked two heartwrenching questions in one game.

_How would they have known anyways?_

"Hey. Pretty long day, huh?" Marlon said as he ran up to her.

"Yup, quite long."

"Louis really didn't mean to offend you or anything. He just doesn't know when some questions are better unasked."

"Yeah, whatever"

"Look, if you want, come find me tomorrow and we can talk about making this long-term, alright?"

Clementine stopped in her tracks as she opened the door, thinking about the proposition.

"I'll think about it, thanks."

Reaching her room, Clementine immediately sat herself down on her bed and buried her head in her hands.

Tears started to prick at her eyes as a few slipped out running down her cheeks and landing on her legs.

_It never gets any easier._

Clem shot up as the door started to open, she quickly wiped at her face to make sure no one saw her crying.

  
Violet's head peeked through the door as she walked in, not realising that Clem was in the same room.

"Oh, shit. I didn't know Marlon set you up in this room. I- are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine, just really tired." She forced a smile.

"You don't get bloodshot eyes in a few minutes like that."

"It's okay." Violet started. "You don't have to tell me anything."

"I was just getting this box for Tenn." She gestured to the box that Clementine had taken out of the closet a few hours back.

"He just wanted some more art supplies, and stuff."

The awkwardness starting creep into the room, Violet started once more.

"Huh! I see you're settling in quite well."

"I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. Honestly this room used to be my favourite. Sophie had like, all these paintings and shit on the walls. Lots of colour. And Minerva... she was really musical. Not like Louis though, she had actual talent.

Clem let out a little snicker at Violet's jab at Louis, getting a small smile out of the blonde.

"She had the most amazing voice, real bluesy" She said as she leaned on the bunk ladder.

"Marlon always joked that he would scavenge a guitar and the two of them would tour the country."

Her smile faltered as she added.

"That was a long time ago. After they... afterwards, Brody and Tenn took down all the paintings and that was the end of it."

"I shouldn't even have brought it up, it's not a very good memory."

"They sound like great friends, Sophie and Minerva." Clementine tried to lighten up the mood, despite her own sorrow.

"Yeah, they really were. Sophie was a great friend and Minerva..."

Taking a small pause, Violet continued.

"We were close, me and her." She finished with a smile.

"What happened to them? Sophie and Minerva." Clem said as she sat herself down on a bed once more.

"They went scavanging outside the safe zone with Brody and Marlon. Didn't make it back. It happens." Violet sat down opposite on the opposite bed.

"Honestly I just miss having someone to talk to. This place just has so many...dudes. It can get a little bit too Bro-Town for my liking sometimes."

"And I'm not exactly like, like a people person? You know? I know I have a habit of coming off a little bit too harsh."

"You and me both, but for the record." Clementine spoke.

"I thought you were pretty cool."

Violet wasn't expecting a compliment, being caught off guard.

"Oh, I uh, thanks. You were pretty cool too. Against those walkers."

"You really have to teach me that knife throw technique sometime."

With a comfortable silence filling the room, Violet got up and started to head to the table.

"It's getting late, so I'll just bring this over to Tenn." She said as she grabbed the box, making her way to the door.

"Yeah, no worries."

"And uh, Clementine? I really hope you decide to stay. I think you'd make a good fit." Violet said as she opened the door, leaving Clementine alone with her thoughts once more.

"Yeah, maybe I will." She said to no one particular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments on chapter one! I will try my best to keep updating as frequently as possible!
> 
> My tumblr for updates: sea-pomegranate


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy xoxo

Sunlight cracked through the boarded up windows of the admin building. The suns warmth embracing Clementine as she made her way up the stairs, the old wood creaking with each step she took.

Reaching the top of the staircase, a dozen thoughts raced through her head. She wasn't even sure if Marlon would let her stay, even if Violet tried to put in a good word for her. Clementine's breathing sped up, anxiety taking a hold of her as she leaned on a wall for support, her legs feeling like noodles.

"Are you okay?" Tenn spoke, his voice breaking the rythm of Clementine's frantic breathing.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, just my head injury." Clementine said matter of factly with a smile. She didn't want him to think she was weirder than he already thought she was.

"If you want, I could get Ruby." The young boy replied. "She's like our nurse, she can help you."

"I don't think that's necessary at the moment, but thank you." She answered back.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Clementine hoped she didn't come off as rude.

"I was just playing with my toys in Marlon's office, since he keeps them there. I should probably take them to my room." He says as he looks down at his firefighter figurine.

Clementine smiled as she looked on at the boy before her, his pureness felt so refreshing and somehow nostalgic.

"Could you help me out with something?" Clementine crouched down, getting down to his height.

"Sure."

"Could you go and find Marlon for me? I gotta talk to him."

"I think he's around here somewhere, I'll go find him." As he walked past her, he turned back to her. "Marlons office is straight ahead, you can wait there."

"Thanks, Tenn."

She turned back to look at the boy as he ran down the stairs, feeling somewhat better after talking to him.

Entering Marlons office, she looked around the wearied room, broken cabinets decorating the wall with a big table and chair sat next to it.

_Why does he have a bed in here? Does he sleep here too?_

She noticed a picture on one of the drawers, picking it up to inspect it, she realised it was a picture of two young boys.

_Marlon and Louis. They really must have known eachother a long time. _

Setting the picture back, her attention quickly focused on the door squeaking, opening slightly, but not enough to see anything.

"Marlon?" She called out.

The door swung open as Rosie entered, still unaware of Clementine's presence.

Clementine took a step back, getting into a more defensive stance.

"S-Stay back!" The girl said, half shout and half whimper.

The dog started growling and barking, slowly approaching the girl, almost as if it was getting ready to jump her at any moment.

"What the hell is going on...? Rosie!" Marlon yelled out as he entered the room in a hurried pace.

"Hey, hey girl. It's okay, calm down." He said in a quieter tone, trying to relax the dog.

Rosie finally started to stop barking at Clementine, Marlon turned his attention to her.

"I didn't know you were so scared of dogs." He said as he started to pet Rosie's head.

"Had a bad experience with a dog once."

"I'm sorry that happened to you, but I swear Rosie is not as frightening as she seems." He said as he approached her.

He whistled and told Rosie to sit down, which the dog did almost immediately.

"See? She's harmless. She only has to get to know you, is all." Marlon said as he reached out his hand towards her.

"Do you trust me?" He said with a smile, shushing Rosie as she started to growl again.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I-"

"No pressure at all, I understand."

"Rosie, lie down." He whistled once more and pointed towards the bed.

"She used to be the Headmaster's dog, back when this place was still up and running."

"But when the world went to shit, he bailed. All the other adults did. Left us behind to fend for ourselves." He said with an almost irritated voice.

"Damn, what a dick." Clementine replied.

"Understatement of the century." He said with a chuckle.

"Now, it's just us kids left." He paused before he continued. "And I'd like it if you were a part of that."

_That was quick._

"You're pretty capable, and we need that right now. Here." He went over to the table, pulling out a map.

She looked closely at the map, scanning every bit of detail on it as she could. To the small **DORM** written in the middle to the **FUCKIN DONT GO HERE **written on the side.

"What's with that?" Clementine pointed towards the river.

"As you can see, we are surrounded by our safezone. And anyone who so far went out here." He motioned towards the river.

"Has never made it back." He said in a sad tone.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Clementine said, feeling a bit guilty.

"You couldn't have known. But what's important now, is getting enough food for the rest of us."

"We're starting to run short. Keeping everyone fed is getting harder and harder by the day."

"You see this green area? This is where we hunt. Louis and Aasim set up traps for rabbits there and should be heading there soon."

"Or atleast Aasim will. I just hope Louis shows up, if I'm being honest." He sighed.

"Vi and Brody on the other hand." He pointed at the end of the map.

"Are going up the river to do some spear fishing. Hopefully those two will get along long enough to get some work done."

"Both teams could use the extra hands."

Contemplating her choices, Clementine spoke.

"I think I'll go spear fishing."

Nodding, Marlon picked up the map.

"Take this, we can't have you getting lost right now."

"I'll ask Tenn to go with you aswell so he can get some experience out there aswell ."

"Gotcha, I'll keep him safe." _I'll make sure of it._

He handed her the map, but held onto it for a second as he spoke.

"We need all hands on deck if we want more food, but remember to stay in the safe zone. We need you to come back in one piece."

"Will do. Thank you again for letting me stay."

Marlon chuckled as he responded.

"Don't mention it. I don't think anyone here would have voted to kick you out anyways."


End file.
